Chapter VIII.
Our mind learns in Melchizedek devotion towards the worship of God, in the king of Sodom temptation even after it has been conquered, still to be feared, in Abraham the avoidance of the contamination of intemperance. Therefore, why is such a great reward promised to him only after the victory; and why does he take care of posterity? Finally, to the same Abraham, defended from the superstitions of divination, a manifold interpretation is added to the sacrifice offered by him.
45. In the moral treatise on Melchizedek, we have fully discussed (Book I on Abraham, ch. 3) the mystery which is by no means overlooked or neglected. In this place, however, it is sufficient to mention only this: that a mind full of prudence and justice is more devoted to the worship of God, and according to higher prudence, it offers tithes of the fruits produced by the earth, so that it may dedicate the perfection of all its senses and works to God, and not claim anything for itself, which it cannot govern unless it is supported by divine favor. Finally, when he thinks he has conquered himself, he is tested and attacked. This lesson expresses and teaches that our body should always act as a guard against passions. For what does it say: The king of Sodom went out to meet Abram and said: Give me the people, but you can keep the horses (Genesis 14:21); unless it is because after victories over these luxuries, a certain force of lustful desire can sneak into the reasonable mind, to infuse irrational passions into it?
46. However, it is the mark of a perfect mind not to take anything from earthly or bodily pleasures, to abstain from earthly things. Therefore, Abraham says: I will not take anything from all that is yours (Gen., 23). It is as if he avoids the contagion of intemperance, as if he shuns the defilement of bodily senses, rejects the pleasures of the world, seeking what is above the world, that is, stretching out his hands towards the Lord. The active hand is the virtue of the soul. He extends this hand not towards the fruit of a terrestrial tree, but towards the Lord, who created, he says, the heaven and the earth (Gen.), that is, the intelligible and visible substance. For intelligible substance is the heavens: visible or sensible substance is the earth. Therefore, it signifies that the power of the soul extends to higher things; so that from that intelligible substance it may assume the elevation of theoretical life, looking not at those things which are seen, but at those which are not seen, that is, not earthly, not corporeal, not present, but incorporeal, eternal, celestial: from this visible substance it may also take up the grace of operative and civic disciplines.
47. The oracle of the Lord spoke to him, saying: Do not fear, Abram, I will protect you, your reward will be very great (Gen. XV, 1). I wonder why after the outcome of the war? The place of receiving the reward was now. For it would make it less admirable if he had followed the promise of God and attacked the enemy. He had proceeded to triumph with confidence in victory, more invited than ready for glory, or prepared to avenge the pain of piety. The purpose of a devout mind does not seek reward, but holds the consciousness of a good deed and the intention of a just work as the reward. Narrow minds are invited by promises, they are lifted up by hoped-for rewards: a good mind that, without the heavenly contract of a reply, undertakes the contest acquires for itself the double fruit of praise; so that it may place both the grace of the most confident bravery and the fullest devotion. This is fitting to be esteemed of holy Abraham; because he considered that divine favor should not be despised by the just in their sorrows, and he struck down the enemy with contempt in the face of danger, because he thought it glorious to undergo it for the purpose of avenging piety. God's justice is also preached in this, that He gives a reward to pious souls not out of necessity of His promise, but out of the consideration of His own fairness, judging it worthy that those who serve without any earthly compensation should have their reward deposited in His goodness, to which they have deemed their souls worthy of dedication. At the same time, because a reward is prepared either by the use of military victories themselves or for the sake of human favor; but the reward for piety, frugality, purity, and other virtues, as if they were private, is paid by God. What is clear to humans, they reward themselves. But not everything is clear, some things are clear, some uncertain, and most hidden in the heart. Therefore, he also says: You have shown me the unclear and hidden things of the heart (Ps. 50:8), of which God is the observer and examiner. Therefore, God would not have promised a great reward to Abraham unless he had judged his soul as pure from all contamination of sins.
48. However, the care of a holy and prophetic mind for future generations is of greater value. For the offspring of wisdom and faith longs for inheritance. Therefore, it says: What will you give me? But I am departing without children (Gen. 15:2). He desired offspring for the Church, seeking a succession that would not be servile but free: not according to the flesh, but according to grace. Therefore, this divine response emerged, in which he was taught and heard: Look up at the sky and count the stars, if you are able to count them. And he said, 'So shall your seed be.' And Abram believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness (Gen. XV, 6). What did he believe? It is this: not only the multitude of peoples who believe in Christ, but also the splendor of heavenly grace and the resurrection of immortal life to be bestowed upon the offspring of the Church. But what does it mean when it says, 'He brought him outside' (Ibid.)? It is as if the prophet is led outside, so that he may depart from the prison of the body and the narrowness of the flesh that covers it, and see the infusion of the Holy Spirit, and as it were, a certain descent. We must also go out from the narrow confines of our inn, cleanse the place of our soul from all pollution, cast off the filth of malevolence, if we wish to receive the spirit of wisdom; for wisdom will not enter into an evil soul. However, Abraham believed, not being enticed by gold or silver as a witness, but because he believed in his heart for righteousness. In this, his merit was proven, and in this, the reward was fulfilled.
49. Finally, immediately the Lord gave testimony to his faith, saying: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of the Chaldeans, to give you this land as your inheritance (Gen. XV, 7). And because Abraham had abandoned the practices of the Chaldeans, he now asks: How, he says, will I understand that I am his heir (Ibid., 8)? That is, I have already rejected the divinations of the magicians, teach me how I can know that I will become the heir of this land. Whoever seeks to know how, does not doubt that, with God as the guide, they can come to know themselves: but they desire to understand the method of acquiring this knowledge. For example, in the Gospel, when Mary heard from the angel that she would give birth as a virgin, she responded: How can this be since I do not know a man (Luke 1:34)? And she responded rightly, saying: When that which is according to nature is lacking, because it is not customary for what has not been joined to a man to give birth, I ask how I, as a virgin, can give birth contrary to the laws of nature?
But the Lord God said to him: Take me a heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years, and a ram of three years, a turtle also, and a pigeon (Gen. 15:9). I would pass over this interpretation of the sacrifice, if I did not observe that there seems to be some scruple arising from the solemnity of divination; because after the immolation the animals were divided, and the halves laid opposite to each other, and Abraham sat down between them. But if we consider the force of the preceding question and the response to be made, we shall be able to discern that the discipline of this sacrifice is in conformity with our hope and faith. For the calf is a beast of burden, dedicated to earthly labor. The goat is symbolized by the likeness of water through riddles, because it derives its name from the Greek αἴξ, meaning to rush, because it moves with impetuosity. Thus, it runs like water. We can estimate the sound and flow of rivers or the violent waves of the sea. And the ram is compared to air, because this animal is found to be more useful to the human race than any other creature; for it provides us with clothing, just as the air supplies us with the vital substance of this spirit. And I believe that this order was made so that he would first say: Take for me a calf and a goat, and in the third place he would say a ram; because those first ones, that is, the calf and the goat, are compared to the material elements of the earth and the sea, and because they are said to be feminine: but indeed the ram is a certain male animal, with a strong nature, and with violent horns. Similarly, the vital spirit of this air is like a male author and cause of beings that are born, moving the genitals of the earth, and, as it were, mixing itself like a certain copulation. Therefore, something else is mystically represented by these three types of living beings: one to the earth, another to the sea, and another to the vital air.
This is a natural tradition: but the moral also agrees and assists. For in all men there is flesh, sensation, and speech. Our flesh is a calf: it labors, in order to sow; it labors, in order to gather; it labors, in order to give birth; it is exhausted by countless labors. Hence the Greeks called the calf 'δάμαν' from being tamed itself; because it is subjected to injuries. The labor of male oxen consists in plowing and serving under the yoke, it represents the births of females with a large udder. Our flesh is also subject to the necessities of this life, shaken by frequent pains, and bent senescent by the travail of many afflictions. Now who is ignorant of the fact that the strength of the soul is more vehement, to which, as if married, bodily substance clings in the course of this life? But our senses, like the leaps of a goat, leap out, and feed on more precipitous things, by their own impetus exciting the disturbances of the soul and shaking it. I am always ready for any occasion, whether it be the encounter with female beauty or the scent of some sweetness. They are moved quickly both by hearing and by action, which even bend the constancy of souls and, as it were, alienate it from its nature. Hence, many consider it to be called ἀφορμή, because ὁρμή is called an impulse; because it arises from a certain impulse of the senses, causing our bending and alienation. However, the female sex has a certain appearance, so much so that our senses are called αἰσθήσεις in Greek, which is a feminine word. Animals quickly empty themselves of their desires, once they have produced their offspring and satisfied their pleasures, and then, when their desires are aroused again, they bring forth new impulses.
52. However, in the ram there is a similarity to our word and speech, that it is powerful, just as our speech is effective in action, and for the sake of our adornment and covering. The ram, by the use of clothing, leads a flock in a certain order, just as a certain order of life and our use is explained by the word. But I believe that we should understand that word more, which is the Word of God, with whom this ram seems to have a significant connection. The Word truly clothed us with the covering of His fleece and led us into the house of eternal salvation. He offered Himself to be sacrificed for us, who was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and like a ram before the shearer, He did not open His mouth (Isaiah 53:7). From this, we have a certain order of substance and sacred redemption, because through Him we were created and redeemed. Therefore, there are two causes through the Word: the natural cause by which He created, and the moral cause by which He redeemed. Philosophy also establishes two aspects of itself in word, natural and moral. For both are rational portions. The natural aspect according to the creation of the world, which it assigns to word: the moral aspect according to justice and equality of living, whose life and reason come from word.
53. For this reason, when forty days had been completed after the birth of Mary the Virgin, they brought our Lord Jesus to Jerusalem to offer him to the Lord according to the law, and to give a sacrifice of a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons (Luke 2:22 and following); because in the dove there is spiritual grace, in the turtledove the nature of an incorruptible generation, or the chastity of an immaculate body. Therefore, rightly after the ram, the turtledove and the dove are commanded to be taken for the sacrifice, so that you may understand by the word the incorruptible chastity and the spiritual grace. And by this very thing that the birds are placed, we can understand the flights of celestial merits. For there are birds of the sky that come and dwell in the branches of the tree that has sprung from the mustard seed, which is compared to the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 13:32). And Ezekiel says that the heavens were opened to him, and he saw among other things a wheel connected to the earth with four living creatures (Ezek. 1:15). And further: 'I heard,' he says, 'the sound of their wings, like the sound of many waters, and the voice of the Most High; and as they went, the sound of the word, like the sound of armies' (ibid., 24).
54. Hence some have derived the books of philosophy, because the sky itself is similar to a bird. In fact, Plato said that the sky is a flying chariot, based on the prophet's words: 'When the animals went, the wheels went with them; and when the animals lifted themselves from the earth, the wheels also lifted' (Ibid., 21). But the prophet did not say that the sky itself is a bird, but rather that there are birds in the sky. In fact, David also said: 'The heavens declare the glory of God' (Psalm XIX, 1), that is, the heavenly powers; just as when a beautiful creation is observed, the creator is praised. But the prophet describes the soul, whose movements are like four horses, the rational, the spirited, the desiring, the perceptive. These four animals are the human rational, the lion spirited, the calf desiring, and the eagle perceptive. Therefore reason is mentioned first, so that the rest may follow reason. Therefore when the human is moved on the right side, the lion, that is, reason, is moved on the right side. And when these animals are lifted up, the wheels are also lifted up. But life is like a wheel on earth, on which we live. If the movements of our souls are elevated, our life is also elevated. Therefore, it is added: For the spirit of life, he says, was in the wheels (Ezech. I, 20). Therefore, the soul is more like a chariot, which says in the Song of Songs: You have made me a chariot of Amminadab (Cant. VI, 11), that is, of our Lord. Therefore, the description of philosophy does not coincide with the prophetic tradition. Finally, the prophet says that he heard the sound of wings. These are the virtues which, with the greatest and twofold applause, produce the delightful charm of prudence, fortitude, temperance, and justice, the sweet melody of life. However, Plato borrowed certain sweet sounds from the celestial sphere generated by the revolution of the stars, following fame and pomp rather than truth. For although our own Origen, devoted to the ecclesiastical office, asserts that there is an indescribable harmony of motion in the planets and stars, producing that most pleasant celestial sound, many of his writings also testify to his great indulgence in the tradition of philosophers. I have written this in order to distinguish the interpretation of this sacrifice from both divination and the tradition of philosophy. Some may want to prove their teaching, but I, following the Apostle, prefer to be timid rather than seem learned, who says: See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ (Colossians 2:8).
55. But when he says: Abraham divided the bodies and sat down beside them (Gen. XV, 11), I do not deny that these words may be auspicious; for this is what I hear: but while the reading implies a division of the bodies of quadrupeds, it does not imply a division of the bodies of birds, unless their inspection had also been made, so that an inspection might be made. What if this is in agreement with our faith? Therefore, let us seek from tradition what the meaning of the word is above and beyond auspiciousness. We have said above that in the calf we receive the earth, in the goat water, in the ram air, which is gathered by its very name, and which they command to be taken for sacrifice in threes; because the earth itself is divided into three species; either a continent, or an island, or a peninsula: water itself into three, because it is either the sea, or rivers, or lakes; for springs, or wells, are private matters unworthy of general and public division; wells are hidden, springs provide others with their source. The air also has divisions of seasons: spring, summer, autumn, winter; and this division is worldly. What does this achieve? So that we may know that God is the creator and ruler of all of these, who has given order to all things and has distinguished them by this division, so that you may infer that God can grant you the things you ask for with piety, and fulfill what he promises.
Therefore, Abraham, because he had responded to the Lord who promised him the inheritance of the land, 'How will I know that I will be the heir of this land?' (Gen. XV, 8), is instructed through those forms of sacrifices so that he may believe that God is above the world, who has divided all things that belong to the world with wise distinction. But those things that are divided will be dissolved afterwards, but those things that are not divided (for example, birds, that is, the turtledove and the pigeon, are not divided) will never be dissolved; for faith remains intact, which is raised aloft like a dove, surveying the heavens and flying around the sky with the spiritual strokes of its wings. Also, that same mind is compared to a turtle-dove, which is nourished by the use of that secret, seeking the intelligible and indivisible substance of the Trinity, fleeing from a certain crowd of creatures and not mixing itself with the bodily congregation, and separating itself from every stain of passions. This sacrifice is demanded of you. Whoever offers such sacrifices, recognizes himself as the heir of that blessed land: faith and chastity of the mind, grace of simplicity, affection of charity and peace. Just as the Lord also declared explicitly in the Gospel, saying: Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall possess the land (Matthew 5:4).
57. Take another division. Our flesh itself, by the order of God, has all its members divided. There are two eyes, two ears, two cheeks, divided nostrils, a double order of teeth, breasts, shoulders, hands, sides, thighs, knees, shins, feet; are not all these things in pairs, so that they seem to perform all our duties relying on double supports? The soul also undergoes a division of its parts. For the discerning, that is, the higher parts, like certain opposing eyes, are both rational and irrational. The rational part of the soul is divided into mind and speech. The sensitive part of the soul pertains to hearing and sight, through which the grace of this life is enhanced. For the sense of smell and taste seem to offer necessary support to the functions of life. The nostrils, through their constant inhalation, nourish the vital essence by receiving the breath, while at the same time providing sustenance to the substance of man through the consumption of food. The sense of taste, on the other hand, is generated by drink and food. The fifth sense, that is, touch, is seemingly mixed with the other four senses. Smell and taste are certain foods that nourish the body, on which the army of this flesh subsists. Sight and hearing, on the other hand, support the mind. These are the divisions that are divided according to our flesh and soul from the highest operator.
58. Hence we must gather that even this world is, as it were, spread out through certain twin members, and distributed like representatives: the earth into mountains and into fields; just as some parts of our body are more elevated, others flatter. The shoulder blades and the upper parts of the feet or hands are prominent: whereas the sides and the lower parts of the neck are like worn and hollowness valleys. This can also be understood about the palm of the hand. For who would doubt that while the heel of the foot protrudes, the middle part is curved? Water in the salty sea, sweet in the river, or in the springs. The air is cold in winter, temperate in the months of spring, and hot in summer. Therefore, the operator divided these things. However, our mind, which is now carried by the oars of different virtues and its own strength, flies above the sky, not divided; because it adheres to the Trinity that divides everything, to the one that is indivisible. Hence, the philosophers assert that the substance of the higher world, which they call ether, does not consist of a mixture of the other elements: but they affirm that it is splendid and shines with much light, which does not receive anything dirty from the earth, anything wet from the water, anything cloudy from the air, anything glowing from the fire itself. They assert that it is of a certain fifth essence and that the mind of this world is swifter and purer than the other parts. But others are composed and mixed together. However, we believe that nothing is immune or foreign to material composition, except for the sole substance of the venerable Trinity, which is truly pure and simple of an unmixed nature: although some may think that the light from that fifth οὐσίᾳ is brighter, of which David said that God is surrounded by light as a garment (Psalm 104:2). And the Apostle wrote about the Almighty God himself, that He alone possesses immortality, and dwells in unapproachable light (1 Timothy 6:16).
But by what reasoning he has said that the birds descended upon the divided bodies of a calf, a goat, and a ram (Gen. XV, 11), I do not easily find, unless it be that all earthly, maritime, and even aerial things are full of traps and disturbances. For those birds seem to have descended upon the bodies for the sake of food. Naturally, the more violent and powerful ones attack the weaker ones, and they press down upon them as if they were dead bodies, frequently rushing upon them unexpectedly, or, which I believe to be truer, because the prince of this world and the birds of the sky, with the evil spirits which are in the heavens, incessantly agitate and tear apart with their rough teeth those who are divided by worldly anxieties and cares, as if they were corpses. For it is said about these things: 'Let the dead bury their own dead' (Luke 9:60); because they belong to the kingdom of the devil, who is divided against himself. But those who belong to the kingdom of God, to whom Jesus says, 'The kingdom of God is within you' (Luke 17:21), they are not divided, because they adhere to God; for he who is joined to a harlot is one body: 'For two,' he says, 'shall be in one flesh.' But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit (1 Corinthians 6:16-17). So these are not dead bodies, for the birds of the sky do not eat them, but they are spirits; for God makes His angels spirits. Moreover, they did not descend upon the dove and the turtle dove, because those birds were not divided. For the righteous are not divided, as it is said, 'Be simple as doves' (Matt. X, 16). Therefore, David says, 'Even the sparrow has found a home for herself, and the turtle dove a nest for herself where she may lay her young' (Ps. LXXXIII, 4). Abraham was observing these things, he was contemplating them with deep and spiritual insight.
Therefore it is written: Abram sat down with them (Gen. XV, 12), not as if he were an aruspex, but as if he were an interpreter of heavenly revelation, exploring the signs of divine operation. For the mind, directed towards the grace of Christ, saw that this world was full of iniquity, which flew like a bird from the highest heaven and oppressed the weak of the earth; however, it also saw that chastity, faith, and sincerity were not subject to any passions. But avarice and the anxieties of the world, with which those who enjoy the pleasures of wealth are suffocated, were torn apart and divided. And so riches are called the cares and thoughts of this world (Matt. XIII, 22); which divide the mind and tear it apart, and drag it in different directions, and do not allow it to remain uncorrupted and whole. Therefore, a man of peaceful mind sat and considered how close he could come to preventing those evils that come upon men; for the mind of a wise and just man strives to heal human circumstances, and to prevent and cut off the travail of our souls.